We went back to the same campsite we used in March. Back then the river we camped next to was inviting, the water was flowing strongly, but clear and sparkling. You could see the rocks under the surface. If the weather had been warmer, we'd have waded in to enjoy it. In July, the middle of the rainy season, even though the weather was warmer, the river did not invite us to wade in. It was an unattractive grey, very similar to the rocks it was barrelling past. I wouldn't call it "enraged" but it certainly was in a great hurry and would not be forgiving if you accidentally fell in. The rocks covered by its swirling, insistent pace were completely invisible.
However, it was still a compelling presence. We spent quite a lot of time down there. The boys threw a lot of rocks into the swirling waters. I sat and looked at it, contemplating the strength of the huge rocks that sat strongly in place while the waters persistently pushed over and around them. At various times, members of our party scrambled across rocks as far as we could down the river. On Tuesday morning we took a path a bit above the river that was easier than rock scrambling and we found a couple of waterfalls and caves downstream.
The campsite itself was also different, testifying to the season change that had gone on in our absence. We spent much of March to June inside our own houses, trying to complete the work we were responsible for and trying not to long to get out and see Tokyo’s burgeoning spring. Despite the fact that we kept busy, there was a lot of same-ness. There were no special events, no need to dress up or pack a bag.
Outside, the seasons charged through early spring to late spring and early summer. We're now in mid-summer and the campsite proved that conclusively. The campsite that had been full of leaf-less trees was now alive with trees densely populated with vibrant green leaves. It was good last week to be reminded of how much time had passed. And also be grounded in the knowledge that though our lives have been a bit topsy-turvy of late, the earth has continued along it's usual course of seasons.
The make-up of our camping group was different also. We had three extra teenage friends along for the trip. The combination of personalities made it a fun camp. The kids made a lot of their own fun. They had pretty much the whole campsite to do it in too, as we were almost the only campers there. There’s change in the air in our family. In the past we’ve done “family camping”, but we’re in a period of change into “camping with friends”. The last time we camped with our eldest son was summer 2017, that was also the last time we camped with just the five of us. The makeup of our camping trips is changing, just like our daily lives today look different to what they did, even five years ago. For the first time we experienced having our own tent, with no kids in with us! Very nice indeed.
I was apprehensive last weekend as I looked at the weather forecast. This time last year we hit a very wet weekend while attempting to camp. Thankfully, that weekend, we were based next to a cabin we had access to and the weather was so bad we spent most of the weekend inside. This time we didn't have that cabin as a backup, so I was desperately hoping that the weather wouldn't be as bad as they were suggesting. Thankfully the forecast proved to be too pessimistic and we had quite a lot of dry patches at convenient times. Thankfully we had camping companions who weren’t nervous nellies and were up for the challenge of four days of varying weather conditions.
We packed the car in rain on Monday morning and welcomed two missionary kids who came across the city to join us in the hopes of having some fun. Their parents are with our mission and our kids had met up with them only a handful of times in the past at conferences. So not really friends, more like potential friends. But they hit it off well with everyone, so I’m glad we invited them. Then we headed off into the mountains west of Tokyo, unsure of what we were getting into.
We’ve got experience in putting up tents in the rain. It’s tricky, because most modern tents have netting roofs and then that is covered by the fly. So we put up the large tarp we call the “annex” a.k.a. Mess tent and then used that as shelter to get the tents erected, then carried them to their final destination. It worked well. We got a bit wet, but inside the tents remained dry.
The rain eased up then and before dinner we then trekked down to the river to check it out. The rest of the evening was pretty standard. We ate. The kids washed and dried! The kids ran around getting rid of more energy. We all went to bed. Camping is great for getting your circadian rhythm into a better place, if you’ve been becoming nocturnal, like some teenagers tend to do during holiday times.
It rained a bit overnight, but by the morning was just overcast. So, after a rather large breakfast of campfire-cooked pancakes, we decided to make hay while the sun (sort of) shone. We went on a short hike down the river where there were a couple of caves, and waterfalls. It wasn’t long on distance, but my phone said I walked up 41 flights of steps! Japanese mountains aren’t gently sloped. The scenery was amazing. So much green, so much moss, and round every bend, gorgeous views of the river, waterfalls, and more green!
In the afternoon some of our group drove to a local dam. They brought back some amazing photos and tales of shaky foot bridges and innumerable “rock throwing contests”. We made Japanese stir fried pork and noodles followed by our traditional chocolate and marshmallow banana boats.
Wednesday morning dawned wet, we thought it might rain all day, and had begun to make alterations to our setup to give us extra, dry living area, when the rain dried up. I’m so thankful for so many non-rainy hours. David took our two MK friends to the train as they had another engagement to get to, and while he was in town he put our wet towels through a dryer. It wasn’t necessarily bucketing down on us, but things weren’t drying out. I stayed home and read a book.
After lunch five people went to a second local dam. I stayed “home” and took the rest of the mini retreat down to the river to ponder. After an hour of sitting next to the rushing river on hard rocks, I needed to take a break. I never have done well sitting still for long periods on my own (without a book to read). But it was a good hour!
For dinner we had campfire pizzas (like a pizza pocket: made on damper dough, a bit like scone or US biscuit and folded over the top) followed by a US “dump cake”, which was tinned cherries covered by cake mix and lemonade and cooked over the fire. It was yummy! We even got some pretty decent discussion going around the fire about books people were reading. My suggestion of a game of “talk for 60 seconds about a designated topic without pausing or using filler words” never really took off, though a couple of the young people had a good go at it.
Thursday morning we woke up to rain again, but not too bad and it cleared up during our packing up, so though the tents and tarps were fairly wet, they weren’t dripping. We headed back to Tokyo before lunch, stopping at a convenience store part-way home for sustenance.
Three nights felt about right. I asked David this morning if he was feeling more relaxed and he said yes. Camping was a great way to kick off a “holiday month”. As I’ve noted before, you get so focused on the “now” of shelter and food, that camping has the effect of blocking out the daily worries that you find hard to cast off from your job.
It wasn’t easy to get back to work the next day, but not impossible. I’m working this coming week, but have two weeks off from next weekend to look forward to. After the challenge of having almost all our plans in March, April, May, and June cancelled, actually having plans that we can look forward to is an even greater delight.
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